The new contract among other harsh measures would cut annual leave entitlements and allowances, while implementing anti-family shift rosters. It also proposed implementation of stand down clauses which could see employees at work, but unpaid.
An ongoing dispute with oil and gas giant ExxonMobil and its contractor UGL is putting workers’ lives at risk and having a devastating effect on communities, says Troy Carter from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) in an interview just released with IndustriALL.
Troy and his co-workers have been picketing at Exxon/Mobil’s Longford gas plant in south-eastern Victoria, Australia, seven days a week, for more than 500 days.
In June 2017, ExxonMobil contractor UGL fired its entire maintenance workforce of 230 people and offered them their jobs back the very next day but with up to a 30% to 50% drop in wages.
The new contract among other harsh measures would cut annual leave entitlements and allowances, while implementing anti-family shift rosters. It also proposed implementation of stand down clauses which could see employees at work, but unpaid.
In the view of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, contractor UGL used underhand tactics and loopholes in Australian law to try to force workers into an agreement approved by just a handful of unrelated workers in Western Australia, thousands of miles away from their workplace. These conditions were then presented to the workforce in a “take it or leave it” approach.
The Longford maintenance workers, who maintain onshore and offshore rigs operated by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso, are members of IndustriALL Australian affiliates AMWU, AWU and ETU.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Lives Threatened in Exxon Mobil Dispute in Australia
The new contract among other harsh measures would cut annual leave entitlements and allowances, while implementing anti-family shift rosters. It also proposed implementation of stand down clauses which could see employees at work, but unpaid.
An ongoing dispute with oil and gas giant ExxonMobil and its contractor UGL is putting workers’ lives at risk and having a devastating effect on communities, says Troy Carter from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) in an interview just released with IndustriALL.
Troy and his co-workers have been picketing at Exxon/Mobil’s Longford gas plant in south-eastern Victoria, Australia, seven days a week, for more than 500 days.
In June 2017, ExxonMobil contractor UGL fired its entire maintenance workforce of 230 people and offered them their jobs back the very next day but with up to a 30% to 50% drop in wages.
The new contract among other harsh measures would cut annual leave entitlements and allowances, while implementing anti-family shift rosters. It also proposed implementation of stand down clauses which could see employees at work, but unpaid.
In the view of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, contractor UGL used underhand tactics and loopholes in Australian law to try to force workers into an agreement approved by just a handful of unrelated workers in Western Australia, thousands of miles away from their workplace. These conditions were then presented to the workforce in a “take it or leave it” approach.
The Longford maintenance workers, who maintain onshore and offshore rigs operated by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso, are members of IndustriALL Australian affiliates AMWU, AWU and ETU.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.